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The next frontier

Published on
20 November
by
Nigel Pickford
,
Director of Market Insight, SITA

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The last decade has brought widespread self-service in the aviation industry. Traveler behavior has changed massively. Self-service check-in was unheard of 10 years ago. Today, nearly 4 in 10 passengers use self-service check-in, either online, through a mobile app or at a kiosk.

The next decade promises an equally radical shift in self-service - one we're already seeing underway. What's triggering it is the significant, if subtle, change in the way airlines view their customers. Whereas airlines used to rely on passengers coming to them - via the airport or the travel agent or the web - they must now go to where the passengers are.

This means embracing technology developments from outside the industry - a game-changer in its own right.

Today's passengers want to control their journeys using their own devices. Whether it's a laptop or mobile phone or tablet. The challenge before the industry is to ensure we can meet passenger expectations by delivering valuable services at the right time on the passenger's own device.

One of the roadblocks to achieving this is the compiling of good-quality data on both operations and passengers. At the moment, airlines don' even have basic information on their passengers - especially those who book through a travel agency.

So, how do we get there?

Read our article, The next frontier in self-service, in the Air Transport IT Review to find out.